Clarke’s bomb sparks rout to win series for South Carolina
The relative statuses of South Carolina and Cornell baseball were settled out relatively quickly Saturday afternoon.
Gamecocks first baseman Wes Clarke strode to the plate three batters in, crushed a baseball about 400 feet and there wasn’t much more to it.
USC rolled to a 10-3 win to take the series and set itself up for the sweep. Thomas Farr was strong on the mound, while Big Red starter Spencer Edwards was out by the third inning and the Gamecocks were about set.
The home run was Clarke’s second of the weekend and eighth of the year, a number that puts him second nationally.
“I had some pretty big goals to start the year,” Clarke said. “I feel like I’m really chasing those pretty well. I’m not surprised. I feel like I’ve put in the work and I’m reaping what I sow, but things are going well and I’m feeling great and hopefully I can continue to streak.”
The Gamecocks (10-4) locked things down in the fourth inning, plating four more runs, getting runs on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch, wild pitch and double play. They managed to scratch out a few more runs, despite stranding nine runners on the day, and Cornell (1-7) put up a three-spot on the bullpen in the top of the eighth inning.
Farr delivered six innings of one-hit ball, walking a pair and striking out six, four in the final two innings.
A homecoming of sorts
Cornell coach Dan Pepicelli is no stranger to the Palmetto State.
He was part of Jack Leggett’s Clemson staff from 2010-15, which included a College World Series trip in which the Tigers lost to the Gamecocks, and six trips to the NCAA tournament.
This was only the second time his Cornell team has played a team from the state in his five-year tenure. The Big Red had a 2016 series at Wofford, which it won.
Nifty throw
Outfielder Andrew Eyster and catcher Colin Burgess get some credit for the Gamecocks’ shutout lasting as long as it did.
Cornell had what looked like an easy sacrifice fly in the second inning. But Eyster came out gunning from right and threw a rocket to make it interesting.
Burgess had to come across his body for the tag, but he just managed to make it. After a long review, the out was held up. Gamecocks coach Mark Kingston said they went back and worked on the catcher part of that after some similar plays had not gone USC’s way in recent games.
“That was something that we looked at in terms of the positioning of our catchers and where they needed to be on those plays,” Gamecocks coach Mark Kingston said. “I thought Burgess was in the perfect spot. His feet were where they needed to be and he gave them a chance to make a tag with a good throw. If you make mistakes early in the season, you need to correct them, guys need to make adjustments and I thought it was a great throw by Eyster.”
Young arms working
In the late going, South Carolina got a split performance of sorts from a pair of developing pitchers.
Junior college pitcher Andrew Peters, who is coming off Tommy John surgery, came out throwing fire, hitting 95 mph on the radar gun. After he lost a couple of hitters and walked them, things unraveled and he was charged with three runs.
But former infielder Josiah Sightler came in and delivered, striking out four in 1 2/3 innings.
“I thought he was really good,” Kingston said. “He was really good out of the bullpen, four strikeouts and faced (six) hitters. Hard to do better than that. He was 90-91, threw a changeup for strikes, so he’ll earn more time by doing that.”
WHEN DO THE GAMECOCKS PLAY NEXT?
Who: South Carolina (10-4) vs. Cornell (1-7)
When: 1 p.m. Sunday
Where: Founders Park
TV: Streaming online on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN
Radio: 1320 AM in Columbia area
